[ Arayel|Maervanyn ]
[ Illeren|Myakleyth ]
A Bite, A Drink, A Slap
Right after the Induction
Though her legs were wobbly and her mind hazy from the pain and the tremendous amount of physical stress, her steps were determined. The stairs were only lit by the candles that hung along the wall and a torch by the door, resting in the wall sconce making the shadows dance like ghosts on the walls. Shaky fingers reached out and pushed the old wooden thing open, creaking on its hinges. Blurry figures passed her and it felt like time had slowed down, but everyone else was moving at a regular speed. Arayel couldn't make out any of it, but after an uncertain amount of time found herself with a glass of wine in her hand and her feet up. This room was a little more well lit and the barkeep stood with a cloth over his shoulder and poured a drink for someone else. The liquid went down her throat and left a wonderful taste in her mouth. It was not a very good wine, but after the ordeal she had been put through, drinking piss didn't sound so bad. Wine was better though. She set the glass down on the table she was sitting at and took deep breaths. Her heart wasn't racing anymore and for once her eyes weren't darting around the room. They were fixed on an unspecific point on the wall above the door leading in. There she sat and took the occasional sip of her wine and drew steady breaths.
Thankfully this room didn't smell as damp as the basement. It smelled like sweet tobacco from someone smoking a pipe, sweat and ale. Like most of these places did. What she had expected to be a night of celebration would be spent in a much quieter way, it would seem. She hoped that the rest of them were equally as knackered as she was, after being bitten by the styx snake. It would be embarrassing to be the only one. It wouldn't do. Silently, Arayel reminded herself to ask Bo about the knuckle bone from the nidhogg. Why had Adriel told her to bring that? Was it just a token or was there a plan with it? The elf closed her eyes for a moment, shook her head and took another sip of wine.
Illeren had been stumbling around for what seemed like minutes now, the effects of the hallucination not yet having fully worn off yet. That was the most vivid thing he had experienced since he had been hit over the head with the blunt side of a great sword. He wandered through the halls looking very much like a no good poverty stricken human...if it weren't for the ears and high quality tattoos. Where was he? What was he wanting to do again? Why was there an after taste of goat ass in his mouth? How did he know what goat ass tasted like? All these questions ran through his mind in blurring speed as he didn't bother to answer any of them until he wandered past an open door. He paused two steps passed and slowly backed up to peer in. A bar! A bar filled with lovely tasting beverages meant to get the after taste of sun dried rotten tomatoes out of his mouth.
He took a couple steps in, seeing another elf, among other occupants, in the bar currently facing the door and narrowing his eyes at her. He knew this one, right? She was from the group correct? Right! She had been the one at the meeting to also yell something about going ahead and getting the induction over with. In retrospect, maybe he should have exercised caution in that regard. Hell, in retrospect maybe he should have more caution in general. Illeren mentally shrugged it off as he strode in, not caring a single ounce about his outward appearance as he strode forward with a sort of drunken confidence and plopping himself down unceramoniously at the bar. He slapped the counter a couple of times.
"Oi, mate! Do ya have...ehhhh...Histaren Whiskey?" The man nodded and brought out a small glass to start pouring the alcohol into, but Illeren put his hand over the glass.
"Just leave tha bottle mate." The bartender raised an eyebrow before Illeren dug into his pocket to pull out a few gold coins and tossing them loudly on the counter.
The bartender gathered up the coins and left the bottle as Illeren took a swig directly from it, glaring at the back of the man's head.
Where tha 'ell did I get those coins from? Illeren thought to himself as he finished his swig.
"Ahhhhhhh." He stated, looking over at the elf for a moment before pointing to the wine in her hand.
"That shite ain't gonna get ya drunk. Ya need a real man of a brew tah get ya goin' down that road." Illeren flicked a finger twice at his bottle, but didn't offer any yet.
While she was slightly surprised, she was also disappointed that her glass was now empty. This dark realisation came when she raised the glass of wine to her lips and tilted her head back. No sweet and fruity liquid poured onto her tongue. Arayel sighed and set it down, about to stand and order some more. Before she could, the human-looking elf caught her attention. She had watched him walk in but couldn't conjure up the energy to stand and speak to him. Arayel was content studying him for a while. He was a curious thing. He'd ordered whiskey and seemed to enjoy it very, very much. She could understand that as her own body ached. It was as if she had aged several hundred years and her bones were old and tired.
"I reckon it also takes a real man to drink it then?" She purred and tapped her fingers against the side of her own glass. Arayel sighed and brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. A part of her was glad he talked to her. The fabric of her attire was so soft and light that she might actually fall asleep. Being engaged in conversation might keep her awake. Illeren certainly would.
"Illeren, was it?" She asked, fixing her eyes on the bottle he'd ordered and then on his. She slowly pushed her glass towards him and then leaned back against the back of her seat, gesturing towards an empty chair across from her.
"Are you going to pour me a drink or not?"
Did she...did she just insult mah manhood? Or was she referrin' to 'erself? Confusion abound misseh! Illeren thought to himself as she responded to his statement.
"Aye luv, Illeren's tha name. Didn't quite catch yours though, but I'mma guess it has a bit a flourish to it, maybe a couple abbreviations? 'ard to spell? Seems like tha way to go with us elves." Illeren stated, more out of the sake to hear himself talk than anything else. He had given legitimate thought of changing his name to something like 'Ralph' or 'John' at one point, but had eventually decided against it when he realized that would probably change his entire demeanor. Illeren was about to take another swig from his bottle when she gently pushed her glass towards him on the table she was currently sitting at, asking if he was going to pour her a drink and to have a seat. Part of him wanted the whiskey for himself, another part of him didn't care, and there was yet another part of him saying to throw the bottle at the bartender and see what he could jack from the coin purse behind the counter.
He gave a small shrug, getting up from the bar and plopping himself down in the seat across from her, pouring a couple fingers worth of whiskey into her wine glass and scrunching his face at it slightly.
"Much too fanceh of a glass for this drink. But eh, be careful with it if yah used tah that wine swill. It will hit yah harder than a rampaging bull going through heat." Illeren lifted the bottle up and took a good gulp of the stuff before nearly slamming the bottle on the table, leaning back in the chair and propping his legs on the corner of it. It burned, maybe a bit too much as he coughed slightly from it. He needed it though, after that induction ceremony of literal Hell. After a few seconds of not saying anything, Illeren slapped his bare chest a couple of times like a bongo drum before looking at the woman.
"So...'ow did yah snake bite go?"
"It's not so bad." She said and smirked. There was something mismatched about him when you knew that he was an elf. When he confirmed it, Illeren seemed all the more un-elvish. His appearance was one thing but his accent was what really made him stand out, she thought. Oddities had a special place in her heart though. He took the offer and moved to take a seat at the table, bringing the bottle of whiskey with him. When he sat, he promptly poured her some.
"Arayel." She stated.
"Ray, if that's too difficult." She meant no offense, but she got the feeling that he didn't mind a bit of teasing.
She took the glass and sniffed it. It had a sharp smell, gently stinging in the nose. Then it was sweet and smokey and plesant. Illeren warned her though it wasn't her first time drinking whiskey.
'I drink more than I let on...' The elf thought to herself, mentally chuckling at that. What he followed up with made her stop as she was about to drink and made her laugh. Arayel glanced at him and shrugged.
"Never heard it put quite like that." It was difficult to resist asking if he knew that from personal experience, or if it was just a metaphor. When she did throw her head back and drink the whiskey, she sat still for a moment and enjoyed the burning sensation in her throat and chest. It was strong, but it felt good at the same time. When she set the glass down she took a deep breath and held it for a moment before exhaling and looking at Illeren again. His mention of the snake bite caused her to shiver.
"Dolorae annin marchyn."* Arayel looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded.
"Yep." No pain ever experienced was stored in her memories. Once more she pushed the glass towards Illeren, flashing him a tired smile.
"How did yours go?" She decided to ask, having discovered that this man was more entertaining and interesting than she had originally thought. While waiting for his answer, Arayel tried to guess where he was from. It wasn't very easy with the accent and the way he dressed. Close to humans would be the obvious guess. She didn't want to guess yet, so instead she listening to him while biting the inside of her cheek with a curious expression on her face.
*Dolorae annin marchyn - Pain beyond belief
"Arayel is it?" Illeren stated, performing a mock glare at her subtle tease towards his intelligence.
"And Ray as a nickname? Maybe I should add Sting in front of that, with your little jabs at tha size of mah brain eh? Sting Ray?" Illeren tapped his temple.
"I'll have yah know I know plenty of things...like how tah kill monsters...and...how tah kill more monsters." Illeren paused, realizing he wasn't portraying his point very well with the alcohol starting to run rampant in his system. He shrugged it off, it was just a subtle tease after all, nothing to get defensive about. Her laugh was appreciated though, at the very least it let Illeren know she had a sense of humor. People who couldn't or wouldn't laugh weren't people he wanted to deal with. He watched as she downed the whiskey like it was some kind of fine drink, meant to be tasted but not ingested. Illeren took another swig himself, the burning starting to fade away as the numbing effect of the alcohol replaced it.
When she did answer about the snake bite, it was in elvish. He knew what she was saying of course, but had just been so long since he had actually conversed in his native tongue he wasn't even sure he could properly form the words anymore with his accent the way it was. Instead he gave a good laugh at the response, nearly tipping his chair too far back and flailing his arms slightly before he regained his balance once more.
"That sounds about right! Can't say many people can claim tah have been bitten by a poisonous snake voluntarily, nah." Illeren stated, still laughing slightly as he took another swig from the bottle, keeping it in his hand and resting against his chest. She pushed her glass forward, and Illeren dropped his legs from the table, slamming the chair down as he sat forward and poured her another two fingers of whiskey. Normally he would be a bit more stingy with his alcohol, but he wasn't even sure if he paid it with his own money, or some poor sap who happened to pass him in the hall's money. Once the glass was filled, he sat back and returned to his former position with his legs crossed over each other on the corner of the table.
She asked how his went, and he thought about this a moment. There was no way in Hell he was going to tell her the details of his, he didn't even want to know the details of his. It was just...too mentally scarring to go over again. He looked over at her, noticing her expression was very investigative, and her crystal eyes, which drew his attention for probably longer than necessary now that he was paying attention, were piercing him with their gaze. It was something he had seen far too many times. She was trying to figure him out.
Keep tryin tah dig misseh, everythin' you need is on tha surface. "Hah!" Illeren belted out, possibly louder than he needed to. He held the bottle up, swishing it around some.
"Let me tell yah! I went down there and that snake came out, well they 'ad to force it tah bite me. My very presence intimidated it into submission!" Illeren took another swig, holding up a single finger as he chugged a good portion of the bottle. Once he was done, he held the bottle against his chest once more.
"Aaaaaaaah...anyways, nah, I'm a liar. Fookin thing bit down like rabid child and sent shivers through mah spine as if that child then said I was it's father." Illeren swished the bottle some more.
"It was one of mah more painful experiences, yah that was. Not tha first time I've been poisoned either, at least this time I wasn't frothing at tha mouth." Illeren paused.
"At least...I don't think I was, nah." Illeren held up the bottle suddenly again.
"Oi! At least we now have tha benefit of going tah fight tha ghoulies without becomin' ghoulies ourselves, right?"
She seemed to consider it a moment. The nickname. It almost took so much of her attention that she forgot to listen to Illeren, but she managed to stop herself, deciding to make up her mind about
Sting Ray later. As a response, she shrugged and raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, alright, dear. I don't question your skills." Arayel giggled to herself and shook her head, amused. Was the alcohol starting to affect him? Had he been drinking a lot? He did hurl down those drinks.
While waiting for his answer, it looked as if he was thinking about how to put thoughts into words, though the reply that came wasn't the one she had expected. Her eyebrows raised obvious surprise and she nodded approvingly.
"Is it really?" Arayel asked, genuinely interested to know the answer to that. There must be a reason for that
facade. If it was a facade at all. That was what she was trying to find out. She had never met someone quite like Illeren. They had locked eyes for longer than she thought was comfortable though, so she averted her gaze. If possible she would try to keep the conversation focused on him. Not her and not her eyes. Definitely not that.
Arayel couldn't help laughing again.
He's fun. She thought to herself. At first she had thought he was serious but it quickly became obvious that he was not when he took another swig of the bottle. She herself reached out and downed another round of whiskey, the burning sensation not so strong this time.
"You have a way with words." The way he expressed himself and quickly formed sentences that were just funny. It seemed like it was just part of who he was. No one could think of that so fast.
Essentially she agreed with him.
"Agreed. I didn't plan on succumbing to that fucking disease and now I won't." For a moment she frowned, as if disgusted. Then she shook her head and cleared her head. Arayel reached across the table and plucked the bottle from Illeren's grasp.
"Where..." She began and then took a swig from the bottle.
"Are you from, Illeren?"
At the very least she seemed to be playfully entertaining. Normally a lot of people would shrug off his words, look at him as if he was brain damaged, or at worst, saw him as some kind of easy mark. More than a few thieves and bandits had met their end at his blade simply because they thought he was inept and stupid. He was glad she didn't seem to look at him that way as he simply smiled and relaxed in his chair. He would admit that he didn't have a very strong alcohol tolerance, despite years of ingesting the stuff. His elven physiology with it's smaller frame and muscle mass prevented him from becoming a walking barrel of ale sloshing around as he strode. Besides that, he had been pretty much chugging the bottle, so needless to say his inhibitions were starting to drop quickly...if there ever were any with Illeren.
Arayel reached across the table and snagged the bottle out of Illeren's hands much to his surprise.
"Oi!" He stated as he leaned forward on his chair. He thought about reaching after it, but realized it was damn near empty already. He gave a lazy look to his left and right, before digging into his pockets.
"Hm?" He asked when she asked her question, before shaking his head.
"Oh, right. A little bit of everywhere luv. You know 'ow it is. I don't have a 'ome, so I go with the wind. Been to every 'uman territory so far, even managed to get to the walls of Kyoshel, but they didn't feel too keen on letting me in." Illeren pulled a toothbrush out of his pocket and stared at it for a second before throwing it on the table. He pulled out a small shiv, some charcoal, a single strawberry which he quickly popped into his mouth, and a bar of soap. What he was looking for however wasn't there. He had no more money.
"Damn." Illeren stated, looking up at Arayel and the bottle before giving a smirk. He wasn't going to give up that easily.
"One moment luv" Illeren got up from his chair, making his way back to the bar.
"Oi, mate, another bottle if ya please." The bartender gave a nod, pulling another bottle from beneath the counter and holding it to the surface. Illeren looked at him with a sideways glance.
"Really mate, I'm going tah be drinkin' for a bit here...got the lovely lass over there with me. Just start a tab would ya?" The bartender gave a glance over at Arayel, and back to Illeren who just rolled his eyes.
"Look, I paid for tha other bottle didn't I? Ya know I'm good for it." The bartender stared at Illeren for a moment before releasing the bottle. Illeren grabbed it quickly.
"Many thanks silent drink man!" Illeren said louder than he needed to, drawing a few gazes from the other bar inhabitants. He popped the lid, and sat back down at the table with his new bottle of whiskey in his hands. He took another good drink from it, slamming it down on the table with enough force to shake it and draw yet more gazes from people around him.
"Right, where were we? Oh, right..." Illeren stated.
"Like I said luv, I'm from everywhere. No 'ome, no place to roost, free as the air around us." Illeren stated, waving his arms to accentuate his claim.
"But what about you? I'mma take a wild guess and say it's Rielorn. Ya seem like a fanceh enough ladeh to come from the ever esteemed capital."
It didn't come as a surprise but neither did it give her what she wanted. What she wanted to know was where he was born, why he put on that accent and what he had been doing up until now. Well, she wanted to know where he was born at least. Illeren had informed her that he'd been very many places. No fixed address, no home as such. Before long though, he started fiddling through his pockets and fished out different objects - random objects that required an explanation though Arayel refrained from asking. Around the time he popped the strawberry into his mouth, she realised that he was looking for something. Money.. The bottle was near empty so it could only be that. She merely nodded when he left to buy another and proceeded to empty the one they had. She felt the tingle of the alcohol now, reminding herself to slow down. Higoht and Adriel had given the impression that they wouldn't go easy on them. At all.
Apparently acquiring another bottle of Histaren Whiskey wasn't as easy as you'd think. She hadn't paid attention to what was going on at the bar, but caught the bartender looking her direction when she began to wonder why it took so long. Illeren didn't look poor in her opinion, not rich either. You simply didn't know if he had money or not, but the bartender probably had years of practice discerning which people had money and which didn't. In any case, he didn't give the bottle away easily. When Illeren finally got it, he stated his thanks. Loudly. Arayel sat and watched him silently.
Perhaps I should convince him to go to bed. Alone, though. She thought to herself. The more he drank, the louder he got it would seem. Good to know.
"Born and raised." She nodded and decided that was enough.
Do I scream Rielorn? He had proceeded with assuring her of how free he was and how he had never had a stationary place to live. Always moving.
Arayel looked at the new bottle and then at Illeren, silent for a few seconds.
"Where were you born? Her voice was clear yet light as she adjusted her seat and discretely and smoothly pushed her chest out a little more. Waiting for his answer she wondered if that would work on Illeren, or if he would simply not notice it and keep talking loudly. Both were amusing.
Illeren continued drinking from the bottle. She confirmed his suspicions, but it wasn't that much of a leap. Reilorn was a big city, or so he had been told, and most Elves were proud to have come from the city. Either way, over the years he had gotten used to evaluating people based off his own impressions. He had to admit, he wasn't right all the time but a few times but it had saved his life a couple of times. She asked him where he was born and he held up a finger as he took a few gulps from the bottle in an almost exaggerated fashion. Once he was done taking his drink, it seemed like he was going to bring it crashing back down to the table, but stopped just short, and carefully placed it on the table...well, as much as he could in his quickly deteriorating state. He clasped his hands together, although amusingly it took him a couple tries to do it right as he stared down at them like they were some kind of puzzle.
"Now..." Illeren stated, trying to look a bit serious but still unable to restrain his face from giving a happy smile.
"I would ask yah, why you're so interested in where I was born." Illeren's voice had lowered slightly now, still aware enough to change the volume of his speech.
"But...I don't care why." Illeren stated, pointing lazily at her.
"Just like...you shouldn't care where I was born." With his finger he made the motion of a circle around her face.
"This..." Then her chest.
"And this...very much this...SOOOO much this...I know what it is." Illeren stated leaning back slightly.
"You're fishin. Common...common...common con move, usin' tha bodeh like that. Not that it's not appreciated luv, I've just done enough of my own..." Illeren snapped his fingers as he was struggling to come up with the proper words.
"Jobs!"[ He stated, finally grasping it.
"Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like it's some big secret or something, I just don't like talking about tha past, birth included. What's tha point? I don't plan on going back there any time soon. So no need to talk about tha bloody place. Nothin' worth seein there anyways." Illeren stated, chugging a good portion of the bottle before placing it right back on the table. Pausing and checking the amount, before stealing a glance back at the barkeep.
"Right, now...here's the thing...I need yah tah slap me and walk out in a huff...I know it will be hard and all, with me bein' so charmin, but just for me?"
He really did drink with a passion. When he gulped down more whiskey and held up a finger, she had expected him to slam the bottle down on the table again, but no. He set it down gently (as gently as he could) and continued in a more quiet manner. The concentration required to make his hands meet, was more than he could muster it would seem. Arayel didn't hold it against him at all. Not with the amount of Histaren whiskey he had consumed. Yet, he managed and continued talking. He was smiling but more serious than before.
Arayel watched him with an interested smile on her face, his voice lowered and the words flowing forth albeit with some trouble. He surprised her. Something had apparently made a habit of. This man was brighter than you thought at first impression. When he stated that he knew what she was doing, she smirked. She didn't succeed in what she tried to do, but it let her know something about him. He wasn't so easily fooled. That was valuable knowledge as well, but she felt disappointed that he hadn't at least looked at her breasts longer. When Illeren finished talking, he had made it clear that he wished not to talk about his past. Not in an angry way, but simply stating that there wasn't a point. Naturally, that just made Arayel more interested but she decided not to push further. He topped the whole thing off with more whiskey and then set the bottle down. Arayel hadn't said a word while he was talking instead just listening and nodding. She was going to get it out of him at some point. And Illeren wouldn't be the only one she would ask these things, oh no, they were all in danger. Everyone in the Serpent's Gathering.
"If there's one thing I learned from this conversation, with my prying and my charms, it's that you are full of surprises. Arayel said as she reached her hand out, placed it gently on his right cheek and leaned towards him so that her mouth was next to his ear.
"Vrasta ûlaer"* The words were a soft whisper and she deliberately just barely kept her lips from brushing against his ear, before she abruptly jerked her head away from his with an angry expression on her face.
"My right tit is bigger than the other?" She shouted and used the same hand that had so gently touched his cheek before, to smack him right across the face. And then Arayel walked with her chin up, out the door.
*Vrasta ûlaer - Good luck
Illeren barely avoided the shiver that came with the woman's spoken words into his ear. Something he was more used to the best courtesans being able to pull off.
Well at the very least yah find me interestin'...Leaves tha door open for other possibilities! Illeren thought a split second before Ray did as he asked and jerked her head away with an angry expression. He knew the slap was coming, but in his state the force of it nearly slammed him out of his chair as he grabbed the edge of the table to prevent himself from spilling onto the floor.
"Fookin' OW!" Illeren yelled at her as she turned and strode out of the room with her nose in the air. Illeren looked to the others in the room, bartender included and gave a mock smile even as a red hand print started to form on his cheek.
"No worries mates, I can fix this...I can fix this..." Illeren stated, giving a nervous laugh as he quickly got up from his seat and half jogged after Ray.
"Luv! Wait! I can explain! It was meant as a compliment! Supposed tah mean you're unique!" The moment he was outside the door, noticing that Ray had already managed to vanish, he rubbed his face for a moment, mouthing the word 'ow' as he walked down the hallway. He nervously looked back at the door, expecting the barkeep to come barreling out at any moment to catch him in the act as he turned the corner down the hallway. He smiled as it appeared that they bought the lie and he strode away with a very confident swagger. Slap aside, there was nothing better than having a conversation with a lovely lass and free liquor.